Sliver depositing apparatus



Oct.24, 1961 H. o. HESS SILVER DEPOSITING APPARATUS Filed June 4, 1958 IINVENTOR HE//v/?4 cHO. H555 BY 4. ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 24; 1961 SLIVERDEPOSITING APPARATUS Heinrich 0. Hess, Winterthur, Switzerland, assignorto Joh. Jacob 'Rieter & Co. Ltd., Winterthur, Switzerland,

a corporation of Switzerland Filed June 4, 1958, Ser. No. 739,821 Claimspriority, application Switzerland June 7, 1957 .5.Claims. (Cl. 19-166)The present invention. relates to an apparatus for depositing sliver ina can 'or other suitable receptacle, more particularly to means forautomaticallycontrolling the operation of such apparatus.

In spinning mills difficulties-frequently arise in the operation of canpresses which may not be discovered and corrected for quite some time bythe operators so that not only production is interrupted but also damagemay be done to machinery, causing undesired standstills andcostlyrepairs. 1 1

Most frequent causesof such breakdowns are interrupted slivers caused byinterruption of the feeding of the preceding machine, forexample, anexhausted lap in a carding machine, or a broken web or a broken sliverimmediately upstream. of the apparatus for depositing the sliver in thecan. I

Other causes of breakdowns are winding of the lap on the calendarrollers of the sliverdeposi'ting apparatus,

clogging of the funnel wheel, .or overflowing cans.

, It is an object ofthe present invention to provide automaticallyacting means in a sliverdepositing apparatus whereby all aforesaidirregularities are taken care of by 'a single device. The deviceaccording to the invention includes a' control lever which is actuatedin response to the distance between the calender rollers forming part ofthe conventional sliver depositing apparatus as well as in response topressure exerted; by the sliver if the latter isnot correctly receivedin the can 'and/ or when the can overflows. The lever actuatesconventional electric switch means which effect stopping of theapparatus in the conventional manner until the irregularity iscorrected.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the -inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. .The inventionitself, however,

and additional objects and advantages .thereof will best v be understoodfrom the following description of an embodiment thereof when read inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic part sectional elevation of an apparatusaccording to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic part sectional plan view of the apparatus shownin FIG. 1 with the casing removed.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side view of a portion of the apparatus shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 looking in the direction of the arrow III in saidfigures.

Like parts are designated by like numerals in all figures of thedrawing.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, numeral 1 designates thecasing of a conventional apparatus for depositing sliver receivedthrough an inlet 22 by means of a rotating funnel wheel 18 along acircular path into a can 19. A horizontal shaft 4 is mounted on asupport 2 in the casing which shaft swingably supports a two arm lever3. One arm of the latter carries a bearing 5 for a shaft 6 of a calenderroller 7. The latter rests, due to its weight, on a callender roller 8which may be driven by a motor 23. To produce the desired pressure ofthe roller 7 against the roller 8 a spring or the like, not shown, maybe provided in the conventional manner. The lever 3 has an abutmentsurface 9 which is 2 associated with both :arms of the leverfor apurpose which will be described later.

A vertical pin '10 mounted on the support 2 swingably supports an elbowlever 11. The latter has a vertical portion .12 through which extendhorizontal screws 13 and 14, the point of one of the screws abuttingagainst the portion of the abutment surface 9 pertaining to one arm ofthe lever 3 and the point of the other screw abutting against theportion of the abutment surface 9' pertaining to the other arm of thelever 3.

The lever 1 1 has a portion extending between the nip of the rollers 7and 8 and the inlet of a funnel 16 forming part of the conventionalrotatable funnel wheel 18. The aforesaid portion of the lever 11 isprovided with an aperture 15 through which passes the sliver on its wayfrom the rollers 7, 8 to the funnel 16. The aperture 15 is eccentricwith respect to the rotation axis of the wheel 18 whichis rotated in theconventional manner by means, not shown.

The portion of thelever :11 extending between the calender rollers 7, 8and the funnel 16 is provided with a downwardly extending fiap 17 whichis engagedby the funnel 16 when the funnel wheel 18 is lifted up bysliver materialjaccumulating at the discharge side of the fun nel wheel,for example, if the can 19, into which the sliver is deposited in ahelical manner, is filled and overflows. The slight axial movability ofthe funnel wheel is inherent of conventional sliver depositing apparatusand the means afiording it are not illustrated, as they do not form partof the invention.

The lever 11 forms the actuating part of control means which, in theillustrated embodiment of the invention, includes a switch 21 which isopened by the free end of the lever l'l whenever there is an impropercondition in-the discharge of the sliver through the funnel 16 and/or.

when the clearance betweenthe rollers 7 and 8 is either smaller orgreater than a predetermined clearance. A spring 24 tends to move thelever 11 in counterclockwise direction against the action of a spring 20which 5 tends to open the switch 211. i

r The device according to the invention operates as follows: r i IDuring normal operation the sliver enters the apparatus through theinlet 22 and passes between the rollers 7 and 8 and through the aperture15 of the lever 11 into I the inlet 16 of the funnel wheel 18. The lever11 is thereby in the position shown in FIG. 2 in which the switch 21 isclosed. If there is no supply of sliver, the lever 3 supporting theroller 7 moves in clockwise direction (FIG. 3) towards the roller 8.Thereby, the free arm of the lever 3 pushes against the screw 14, movingthe lever 11 in clockwise direction (FIG. 2) against the action of thespring @4- and opening the switch 21. Should the sliver material wind onone of the rollers 7 or 8 the spacing between the rollers 7 and 8 wouldincrease and the lever 3 would move in counterclockwise direction andabut against the screw 13 so that the lever 11 would be moved inclockwise direction and the switch 21 opened.

It happens frequently that the sliver material clogs the inlet of therotating funnel wheel, thereby forming a lump below the calender rollers7 and 8 which lump rotates with the funnel wheel. Since the opening 15in the lever 11 is eccentric relatively to the rotation axis of thefunnel wheel the sliver material will urge the aperture 15 towards therotation axis of the funnel wheel so that the lever 11 swings clockwise,opening the switch 21.

it due to inad-vertence of the operator the can 19 overhows, thepressure exerted by the sliver material accumulating at the dischargeside of the tunnel wheel pushes the latter upwards towards the rollers 7and 8. Thereby, the upper part of the inclined inlet of the 'funme] 16pushes against the flap "17, moving the lever 11 clockwise and openingthe switch 21 so that the sliver depositing apparatus is brought to astandstill.

What is claimed is:

l. A sliver depositing apparatus comprising a rotatable funnel wheelhaving a funnel receiving the sliver and discharging the sliver along acircular path, a pair of calender rollers for feeding the sliver intosaid funnel, said tunnel wheel being axially movable towards and fromsaid rollers, one of said rollers being movable to- Wards and from theother of said rollers in a direction which is normal tothe rotation axesof said rollers, an actuating means operatively connected to saidmovable roller and being responsive to the movements thereof, and amovable control member engageable by said actuating means to be movedthereby upon improper movement of said movable roller, said controlmember having a portion e'ngageable by said funnel wheel for moving saidcontrol member upon axial movement of said funnel wheel due to improperconditions in the discharge of the sliver through said funnel, saidcontrol member being disengaged from said actuating means and lirom saidfunnel wheel, during normal operation of the apparatus. I I

2. A sliver depositing apparatus comprising a rotatable funnel wheelhaving a funnel receiving the sliver and discharging the sliver along acircular path, a pair of calender rollers for feeding the sliver intosaid funnel, one of said rollers being movable towards and from theother of said rollers in a direction which is normal to the rotationaxes of said rollers, actuating means including a two-arm leverconnected to said movable roller and being responsive to the movementsthereof, and control means including a control lever adapted to beabutted by one arm of said two-arm lever upon movement of said movableroller in one direction and to be abutted by the second arm of saidtwo-arm lever upon movement of said movable roller in the oppositedirection for swinging said control lever in the same direct-ion upon animproper movement of said movable roller in one or in the oppositedirection.

3. A sliver depositing apparatus comprising a rotatable funnel wheelhaving a funnel receiving the sliver and discharging the sliver along acircular path, a pair of calender rollers for feeding the sliver intosaid funnel, said funnel wheel being axially movable towards and fromsaid rollers, one of said rollers being movable towards and from theother of said rollers in a direction which is normal to the rotationaxes of said rollers, an actuating means operatively connected to saidmovable roller and being responsive to the movements thereof, andcontrol means including a lever having a portion placed between the nipof said rollers and the inlet of said funnel, saidportion having anaperture through which the sliver passes on its way from the nip of saidrollers to said funnel, said aperture being located eccentrically of therotation axis of said funnel'wheel whereby sliver material clogging inthe funnel tends to move said lever into a position in which saidaperture is coaxial of said funnel wheel, for actuating said controlmeans, said lever being engaged and moved by said actuating means uponimproper movement of said movable roller, for actuating said controlmeans.

4. A sliver depositing apparatus comprising a rotatable funnel wheelhaving a funnel receiving the sliver and discharging the sliver along acircular path, a pair of calender rollers for feeding the sliver intosaid tunnel,

one of said rollers being movable towards, and from the other of saidrollers in a direction which is normal to the rotation axes of saidrollers, first actuating means connected to said movable roller andbeing responsive to connected to said first actuating means to beactuated by the latter upon improper movements of said movable roller,and control means operatively connected to said second actuating meansto be actuated thereby upon improper movement of said movable roller aswell as upon improper flow conditions of the sliver through said tunnel.

5. A sliver depositing apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein saidsecond actuating means is in the form of a lever adapted to be engagedby the sliver entering the tunnel for swinging said lever and actuatingsaid control means upon improper flow conditions of the sliver throughthe funnel, said first actuating means abutting against said lever andswinging said lever upon improper movements of said movable roller foractuating said control means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7704,704 Meats et al. July 15, 1902 2,270,720 Thompson Ian. 20, 19422,799,056 Carmichael July 16, 1957

